Regulation of furnaces.



E. McLEAN.

REGULATION OF FURNACES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 10. 1907.

4 SHEETSSHEET l- Patented 00 24,1916.

E. McLEAN.

REGULATION OF FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1907.

Patefited Oct. 24,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. McLEAN.

REGULATION OF FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1907.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3- E. McLEAN.

REGULATION OF FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1907.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 EMBURY MCLJEAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REGULATION OF FURNACES.

Specificatiotrs Patent. P t t m p, 2%, Maya,

Application filed July 10, 1907. Serial No. 383,061.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EMBURY MGLEAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regulation of Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in the separate regulation of each steam boiler or other furnace of a group whereby the rate of combustion of each of a plurality of boiler or other furnaces supplying steam or other heated product into a common collector may be saparately and automatically regulated so that each furnace of the group delivers a predetermined portion of steam or other heated material of the total supplied by all of the furnaces to said common collector; and so that the condition or characteristic of the material supplied by any furnace of the group may bear any predetermined relation to the condition or characteristic of the material supplied by the other furnaces of the group to the total amount of material supplied.

The invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein, by way of illustration I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is an end view partly in section showing a plurality of furnaces supplying heated material for a combined orcommon result. In this figure the furnaces operate steam boilers which supply their steam into a common header or pipe. Fig. 2 is a side view partly in section of one of a plurality of furnaces supplying heat for a combined or common result. In this figure the furnace operates a steam boiler which supplies steam to a common header or pipe. This figure illustrates one means for controlling the air supply, and the fuel supply to the furnace, by a function of the furnace in order to regulate the rate of combustion relatively to the rate of combustion of the other furnace or furnaces. Fig. 3 is a plan view partly in section of a plurality of furnaces, one of which is shown in Fig. 2 supplying heated material for a combined or common result. It illustrates one means for controlling the air supply, also the fuel supply to each furnace, by a function of that furnace relatively to air supply and fuel supply of the other furnace or furnaces. The steam pressure of the boiler is the function employed. Fig. 4.- is a detail View of a sensitive regulator and an operating motor controlled thereby which may be used in connection with the invention as hereinafter described. Fig. 5 is an end view partly in section showing a plurality of furnaces supplying heated material for a combined or common result, and provided witha. difierent means from that shown in Fig. 3, for controlling the air supply and the fuel supply to each furnace relatively to the other furnace or furnaces. In this figure the deflecting plate regulator is controlled by the difference in pressure between each boiler and the common header or pipe. The construction of this deflecting plate regulator is not specifically claimed herein, but is the subject-matter of Letters Patent granted to me No. 1071771, dated September 2, 1913.

In the accompanying drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in all the views, and A, A indicate a plurality of furnaces.

B, B indicate air supply to each furnace.

C, G indicate fuel supply to each furnace.

D is a common source of air supply to B and B.

d is a common duct, to B and B.

E is a combined or common receptacle into which heat is supplied by furnaces A,

A, through the medium of the steam boilers.

F, F are boilers.

G, G and H, H illustrate regulators which operate the motors I and I and J and J.

L, L are the valves controlling the fuel supplying mechanism C and C and are operated by motors.

In the embodiments illustrated in which a plurality of furnaces may be supplied with air from a common source the furnaces A and A are supplied from any suitable source such as the blower I) through the common air duct d to the individual branch ducts, B and B from whence the air passes to the furnaces A and A being controlled by the dampers K and K, Likewise the fuel is supplied to the furnaces by the feeders C and G which are controlled by the valves L and L operated by the motors, J and J. The motors I and J and I and J are controlled respectively by the sensi- '15 'less than the others, the pressure in that boiler will be less than in the others by an amount equal to the reduction in wire drawtive regulators G and G. The sensitive are the same, the pressure in all the boilers will be the same. If one boiler is supplying steam into the-common collector at' a rat-e ing in the connection between the boiler and the common collector, due to the reduced quantity of steam passing through this connection.

diaphragm g The regulators H and H are actuated by I the difference in-pressure between the boiler 5 F and the common pipe or header E and the boiler F, and the, common pipe or header E.

Steam is supplied from the boilers F and F to the common header E through the pipes f and f. The pipes g and 9' supply steam pressure to the said regulators G and G from the boilers F and F respectively.

In Fig. 4 the sensitive regulator G has a The pressure of the boiler acts on one side of this diaphragm through the pipe 9 in the chamber 9. Opposed to this pressure is the fluid pressure in the chamber 9 exerted by the spring 1: acting on the piston 2' through the pipe 5 and the weight 9 connected to the' diaphragm bythe rod 9. The fluid used in the cylinder i pipe iand chamber 9, is preferably oil,

'ployed' forthis purpose.

but of course any other fluid may be em- In Fig. 5' the regulator H comprises a chamber 71, connectedby the pipe 72. with the steam boiler F and connected by the pipe 72. with the common header E. Within this chamber'is located the deflecting plate 72. swinging on the. axis h operating the 'pilot.

valve h by means of thejrod It; The mo tion of the plate It is opposed by the ad .justable spring in. and h is a pipe which connects a source of fluid pressure, to the valve k and pipe 72, is a discharge or vent pipe for the valve 72.. Pipes i and 7' connect the regulator with theoperating motors I and J controlling the air supply and the fuel supply respectively to the furnace;

It is evident that in the construction shown in Fig. 5the regulator H or H can be adjusted to automatically maintain a uniform difference of pressure between its boilerand the common collector. As-thc velocity of flow of the steam from each boiler to the collector will vary directly with the difference in pressure in that boiler and in the collector, and as the output of each boiler will vary with the velocity of steam from that boiler, to the collector, it is evident that this regulator can be made to maintain an equal output from all of these boilers or it may be adjusted to maintain any desired ratio of output between the boilers.

The operation of the invention is as follows: Referring particularly to Fig. 1 the sensitive regulator G, the operating motor I, the damper K and the operating motor I and damper K are so adjusted that a predetermined presure will be maintained in the boiler F, and also in the boiler F. These pressures may be the same or different as desired. If the pressure in the boiler F goes above'the standard for which the regulator G is adjusted the damper K is partially closed by means ofthe operating motor I and the rate of combustion is reduced until the pressure Within the boiler F becomes'normal. If the pressure in the boiler falls below normal the reverse action takes place and the rate of combustion is increased. The action in the furnace A and the boiler F and the regulator G, operating motor I, and the damper K, is similar to that of the furnace A.. But the pressure maintained in the boiler-F by the regulator G may be entirely difl'erent from that maintained in the boiler F by the corresponding regulator G.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the fuel sup plied to each furnace is controlled in a manner similar to the air supply as has already been described and the rate of supply to each furnace will depend upon the steam pressure in the boiler of that furnace which, as before stated, may be the same or an entirely different pressure from that in the other boiler according to the adjustment of the regulators G and G. In case a battery of furnaces supplied with air from a common source are employed for some other purpose than supplying heat to steam boilers, some other function of each furnace may be used to control the air and fuel supplied to that furnace.

. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show furnaces operating steam boilers which deliver steam into a common header. The regulator G, the operating motor I and the damper K,- and the regulator G operating the motor I and the damper K are so adjusted respectively that when the boilers are doing their predetermined rate of work, the rate of combustion in the furnaces A and A will be equal. If one boiler does more than its proportion of work, the steam pressure in that boiler will, of necessity,'be greater than that in the other boilers and the regulator in that boiler will reduce the rate of combustion and consequently the steam pressure and the rate of work. Manifestly, the apparatus can be arranged to maintain any predetermined ratio of work between the boilers, as, for example, one boiler could be made to maintain a rate of work twice as great as the other. For instance, if the two boilers F and E have a normal capacity of 100 horse power each and the load on the common header E is200 horse power, the apparatus when properly adjusted will maintain a ratio of duty of 100 horse power in each boiler, If the load on the common header E is reduced to 100 horse power, the apparatus will automatically reduce the duty of each boiler to 50 horse power. On the other hand, if the boiler F has a normal capacity justed will automatically maintain a rate of duty of horse power for the boiler F and 150 horse power for the boiler F. If

the'load on the common header E be reduced to 100 horse power the duty of the boiler E would be reduced to 25 horse power and that of the boiler F to 75 horse power. lft'is evident there may be an independent air supply for each furnace, as, for example, a separate blower or a separate chimneystack may be employed for each furnace. The term blower as I employ it here, is used in a general signification and is intended to cover both mechanical and steam jet blowers.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred form of my invention, 1 wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details of construction herein enumerated as modification and variation I may be made without exceeding the scope of the claims.

What I claim is 1. The combination of a plurality of furnaces, means for supplying heated material from said furnaces into a common collector,

I means for regulating the rate of combustion for each furnace, and means controlled by a 'difierence of a characteristic of the heated material in the collector and in each furnace for automatically controlling the means for regulating the rate of combus tion of that furnace.

2. The combination of a plurality of furna'ces,'means for supplying heated material from said furnaces into a common collector,

tilt

air-supplying means for said furnaces, and means controlled by a difference of a characteristic of the heated material in the collector and in each furnace for automatically regulating the air supplied to that furnace.

3. The combination with a plurality of steam boiler furnaces, a common collector, means whereby each boiler delivers steam to said collector, a connection between the collector and each boiler, and means located in such connection and governed by the difference in pressure between the steam in the boiler and in the collector for controlling the rate of combustion of that furnace.

4. Means for the relative regulation of steam boiler furnaces acting in conjunction, in combination a plurality of steam boiler furnaces, a common collector, means having a predetermined fixed resistance whereby each boiler delivers steam to said collector, 1

each boiler being provided with independent means for regulating its rate of combustion, and sensitive means whereby the regulating means for each furnace is automatically controlled by a characteristic of the steam generated by that furnace relative to the characteristic of the steam generated by the other furnace or furnaces under all conditions of operation.

5. The combination of a plurality of steam boiler furnaces, a collector common to all the boilers, a connection from each boiler to said collector, and means for controlling the rate of combustion of each boiler furnace, actuated by and responsive to the variations between a characteristic of the steam of the collector and a characteristic of the steam of that boiler under all conditions of operation.

6. The combination of a plurality of steam boiler furnaces, a collector common to all of the boilers, a connection having a predetermined fixed resistance from each boiler to said collector, and sensitive automatic means for controlling the rate of combustion of each boiler furnace, actuated by and responsive to the variations of pressure of the steamof that boiler within the limits of variation between the pressure of steam in that boiler and the pressure of steam in the common collector.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' EMBURY MCLEAN.

Witnesses:

R. B. CAVANAGI I, OscAR Asorrnn. 

